I actually think Strongsville will be better than teams are giving them credit for. Storm Miller is the real deal , and with an all Senior line , Trusnik brought in Eric Kush another former NFL player to coach them. They are my “surprise you” team in the GCC this year. I don’t think they beat Avon lake , but I think it will be a better game than people think.
I think 4 is right -
Mentor wins by 10 or 14 over a good Jackson team.
Medina beats Stow well
I don’t know much about Trotwood other than they were 8-2 last year and moved Up to DII but Heights should be ok
Shaker will handle South easily.
Remember too that these teams opened against each other last year at Avon Lake in a game where both defenses were way ahead of the offenses, and Strongsville led 14-13 late in the fourth. Avon Lake maybe had a 100 total yards in offense to that point but then put together a late drive, including a big pass play for 40-50 yards to set up the winning TD.
Both teams return a lot so I also think it will be a close game.
I mentioned last week I would give a more detailed take on Strongsville at some point, so here it is.
I went back and watched some of their games on YouTube to see where things went wrong, since I touted them to be a sleeper team before last year began. There were some clear things I picked up on.
1. They ran basically a middle school offense. They lined up in the same set 99 percent of the time (QB shotgun, 1 RB and 4 WRs; 2 on each side with occasionally lining the TE on the line but usually in the slot or a WR in the slot). Then, they ran either 2 plays out of that. 1 a RB dive or some intermediate passing play.
Granted, part of that may have been simplifying things because Nolan Beard got hurt early in the Berea game and they had to turn to a sophomore, but the offense was the same under Beard outside that Beard was a threat to tuck and run (not by design). They never attempted to get their RB on the edge; never pulled linemen, it was straight up sending him into the middle and hoping he could get 3 yards. Passing wise, they attempted 1 RB screen that I remember and it went for like 30 or 40 yards. The few times they went down field, they had some success (but only attempted maybe 15 to 20 passes over 15 yards all season). They ran 2 WR screens, both to their most explosive WR (who I believe was a sophomore and had good rapport with the sophomore QB). Both times (against Benedictine and Cleveland Heights) he housed them for 60 plus yards (their only two explosive offensive plays all season).
With Nolan Beard back after missing most of his junior season, the entire starting OL returning and being seniors and something like 7 of the 9 WRs/TEs they rotated all being listed as juniors or below, it won't take much innovation to vastly improve the offense. The only position that is new is RB where last year's starter got all but maybe 5 carries on the season. The one who got the other 5 was a sophomore and looks small but fast (his brother is a starting DB who has some D2 offers). They also should have another sophomore who played Varsity last year at Lutheran West and had probably 600 plus total yards. He ran on Strongsville's track team last spring so he must have came back after football (he finished something like 3rd in the 100 meters in 8th grade at state).
2. The defense was really good last year until the lack of offense finally broke their spirit. They mostly shut down Avon Lake, they shut down Solon, Berea-Midpark scored 41 but 1 was on a long punt return by Austin Clay; another was off a long punt return Clay took to the 2; another was on a pick 6 by Clay; and another was a scoop and score on like the sophomore QB's 3rd or 4th snap after Beard got hurt where he simply dropped the ball while scrambling and B-M returned it.
They bounced back and shut down Benedictine and Euclid (but offense struggled in those games ... as they did against AL, Solon and B-M).
Then the Heights game came around and you can tell that was the game that broke them. They had zero clue how to defend the wishbone (stayed in the 3-3-5) and got obliterated off the ball leaving wide open running lanes for the CH playmakers. The offense again did nothing and the season was lost from there.
Plus, while the defense was very good the first half of the year, I thought they mis-used Storm Miller. Lined him up at OLB (behind DE Jerome Williams) and seemingly dropped Miller into coverage 90 percent of pass plays. On run downs teams simply ran opposite the side Williams and Miller were lined. Seemed to me they wasted a year of Miller. Williams will be a giant loss though because he was a monster last year.
Overall, though, I think 3 of the five DL they rotated are back. Miller is back at LB and 4 DBs (all 3 year starters) are back in the secondary. Trusnik being a defensive guy (and a LB/end) he should know how to maximize Miller's potential (P5 prospect with dozens of offers).
3. There is a correlation between D3 players who had to grind their way to college, then turn to coaching having success (at all levels of football). I don't know if Trusnik will be a good coach but the guy overachieved in HS to get to a D3 college and then overachieved to make an NFL roster as an undrafted FA: then overachieved to play 10 years in the NFL. It's hard to bet against that, especially with him coming into a situation where the team is returning 15 starters and most of those being 3 year starters.
I was off last year on Strongsville but I don't think going 3-8 was a talent issue after re-watching. And I'm not saying they have the talent to beat the top tier teams in the GCC, but enough where they should be able to compete with them for four quarters.